Hot Topics:

Mercersburg business owners, police clash

By JIM HOOK, @JimHookPO

Updated:
01/23/2013 07:30:15 PM EST

Applause followed the remarks of Tuscarora Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mary-Anne Gordon on Wednesday, after she asked Mercersburg Police Chief John Zechman, "We'd like you to stop the DOT inspections. Why can't you?"

By the end of the two-hour meeting, it was a rhetorical question. Zechman had said early on that he would not halt the random stops of commercial trucks.

About a mile of state highway runs through the 1-square-mile Borough of Mercersburg. The borough recently hired a retired state trooper who is certified to conduct commercial truck inspections.

He conducted 33 inspections in three months. At least two trucks were idled as a result of the inspections, according to Zechman. The officer found violations on nearly two-thirds of the trucks.

"With the stringent requirements of DOT, virtually every business owner who has a truck will get an inspection because your universe is very narrow," said Williams Sanders, an accountant and community leader. "When we start messing with fuel trucks and milk trucks, we're not doing our community justice."

About 80 people gathered Wednesday for a sandwich and macaroni salad luncheon at the American Legion in Mercersburg.

The group aired its perceptions of the department's enforcement that, they say, targets trucks serving local business and patrons leaving local restaurants that serve alcohol.

"We are policing the masses, hurting the masses, for the sins of the few," Gordon said.

Advertisement

"We have improved our police department," Mercersburg Mayor James Zeger said at the close of the meeting. "There are more arrests because we are having more police out and around more than before. I'm concerned about the comments."

In Pennsylvania, a mayor has the responsibility of running his town's police department.

Zeger said borough council has established a 7-member committee to investigate. Three Chamber of Commerce members will serve on the committee as well as the mayor, police chief and two council members.

Gordon said the committee should have been established before police began the truck inspections.

The police department's payroll has increased 65 percent in the past 10 years, she said. The police department represents a third of the borough's budget.

Answering Gordon's direct questions, Zeger and Zechman said they did not confer with the business community or conduct a traffic study prior to starting the truck inspections in October. Zechman said there had not been a sharp increase in truck crashes in the borough.

"You have to look at the big picture," Zechman said. "There's no requirement to do a traffic study. We have a lot of mountains around here and that puts a lot of wear and tear on trucks."

Zechman said his department started the program to make trucks more safe and reduce the possibility of serious accidents.

No hands went up when the police chief asked how many people had trucks stopped and inspected by the police department.

Gordon said business managers call around to avoid a truck inspection. Two businesses who were not represented at the meeting had trucks stopped and inspected.

Local business managers have said they do not fear the results of the inspection, but rather the delay of at least 45 minutes.

Melissa Stuff of Agronomy Inc. said she has three major vendors who travel more dangerous, narrow back roads to avoid coming through the borough and risking a delay from an inspection.

Representatives of clubs and restaurants also complained that police lie in wait for patrons leaving the establishments.

Todd Sixeas, manager of the American Legion, said a police cruiser was parked at the dead end outside the legion for two hours on a Saturday night.
"What is our police department watching at a dead end road?" he asked.

"My directive is not to watch establishments," Zechman said.

"It is happening," said Gary Zeger of the local Moose lodge. "It's not just sour grapes we're throwing out."

His bartenders have been trailed when they leave work, he said, with police officers zig-zagging behind them in an effort to make them drive outside their lane. He also fears vendors will tack on a surcharge when an eventual truck inspection delays them on their route through area communities.

Police have pulled over drivers, and when they pass a breathalyzer test, told them to park their vehicle and call someone to take them home, according to residents.

Zechman said people who have concerns about an officer's conduct should notify him by filling out a formal complaint.

"The police department is only as good as the community it serves," he said.

Jessica McCulloh said she must close Flannery's Taven by 11:30 p.m. on Saturdays for a lack of business, because police wait outside.

"I have regulars who don't come in any more," she said. "They don't want to get pulled over."

"It's just a small town," Rick Robinson said to Zechman. "You guys are just out of control."

Sanders encouraged police officers to meet with officers of the Legion, VFW and Moose "to see us so we are responsible human beings, not a bunch of alcoholics."

Teresa Gourley said people have asked her to prohibit police from parking at her car lot at the north point. She said she has welcomed the security, but has found that the officers are not "community friendly."

"They won't even acknowledge me," she said. "They won't even wave to me. They should know me. They're on my property."

Gordon encouraged people to attend the next borough council meeting at 7 p.m. Feb. 11, scheduled for council chambers in borough hall, 113 S. Main St.

-------

Jim Hook can be reached at 717-262-4759 and jhook@publicopinionnews.com.